{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "Delivering on 21st Century IDEA: A case study from the GSA SmartPay team (Part 1) |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Delivering on 21st Century IDEA: A case study from the GSA SmartPay team (Part 1)",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2023/11/28/part-1-delivering-on-21st-century-idea-a-case-study-from-the-gsa-smartpay-team/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Delivering on 21st Century IDEA: A case study from the GSA SmartPay team (Part 1)","summary" : "The GSA SmartPay program, the largest government charge card and commercial payment solutions program in the world, celebrated their 25th anniversary by launching three new websites with a user-centered, agile approach.","date" : "2023-11-28T08:52:00-05:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"ryan-johnson" : "Ryan Johnson"},"topics" : {
        
            "content-strategy" : "Content strategy",
            "digital-service-delivery" : "Digital service delivery",
            "product-and-project-management" : "Product and project management",
            "user-experience" : "User experience"
            },"primary_image" : { "uid" : "three-gsa-smartpay-screens", "alt" :
  "Three screenshots of GSA SmartPay websites overlap each other against a red and blue gradient background. From rear to front, the sites are: 889 Representations Search, Complete Your GSA SmartPay Training, and the main GSA SmartPay homepage.", "width" :
  "1200", "height" :
  "628", "credit" :
  "", "caption" :
  "", "format" :
  "jpg" },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2023-11-28-part-1-delivering-on-21st-century-idea-a-case-study-from-the-gsa-smartpay-team.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2023/11/2023-11-28-part-1-delivering-on-21st-century-idea-a-case-study-from-the-gsa-smartpay-team.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2023/11/2023-11-28-part-1-delivering-on-21st-century-idea-a-case-study-from-the-gsa-smartpay-team.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2023/11/2023-11-28-part-1-delivering-on-21st-century-idea-a-case-study-from-the-gsa-smartpay-team.md","slug" : "part-1-delivering-on-21st-century-idea-a-case-study-from-the-gsa-smartpay-team","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2023/11/28/part-1-delivering-on-21st-century-idea-a-case-study-from-the-gsa-smartpay-team/","weight" : "1","content" :"\u003cdiv class=\"box \"\u003e\n  \u003cem\u003eThe U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Center for Charge Card Management (CCCM) administers the GSA SmartPay®️ program, providing services to more than 560 federal agencies, organizations, and Native American tribal governments. Watch this \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kcvidn5ikc\"\u003e1-minute video celebrating the program’s 25th anniversary\u003c/a\u003e, which will be November 30, 2023. To date, GSA SmartPay has handled $643 billion dollars in total spend and provided $5.6 billion in refunds to agencies to invest in their mission.\u003c/em\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n        src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/three-gsa-smartpay-screens.jpg\"alt=\"Three screenshots of GSA SmartPay websites overlap each other against a red and blue gradient background. From rear to front, the sites are: 889 Representations Search, Complete Your GSA SmartPay Training, and the main GSA SmartPay homepage.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eLate in fiscal year 2022, the \u003ca href=\"https://smartpay.gsa.gov/\"\u003eGSA SmartPay program\u003c/a\u003e — the largest government charge card and commercial payment solutions program in the world — was experiencing challenges with one of its websites.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThousands of card and account holders are required to complete training courses on the GSA SmartPay website. Random timeouts and crashes disrupted the user experience, causing frustration and bottlenecks in training certifications. And since most participants needed to complete the training only once every few years, many users forgot their login and password, requiring assistance from program staff.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"working-with-gsa-service-delivery\"\u003eWorking with GSA Service Delivery\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe GSA SmartPay team reached out to GSA’s \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/GSA/service-delivery\"\u003eService Delivery team\u003c/a\u003e, a cross-functional team with product management, user experience design, content strategy, engineering, and acquisition skills.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThrough research, we discovered the program’s main website — composed of general program information, resources for agency program coordinators and card and account holders, and important program updates — suffered from design and operational challenges. It was hosted and maintained by the vendor, and didn’t align with many of the requirements of the \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/21st-century-integrated-digital-experience-act/\"\u003e21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act\u003c/a\u003e (21st Century IDEA), including the use of the \u003ca href=\"https://designsystem.digital.gov/\"\u003eU.S. Web Design System\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe two teams interviewed users to identify their goals and pain points. We also reviewed the websites’ analytics, collected and made available to federal agencies by the government’s \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/guides/dap/\"\u003eDigital Analytics Program\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"getting-focused-with-product-framing\"\u003eGetting focused with product framing\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter initial user research, the teams developed product framing for the training and program websites. Product framing is the process of creating a narrative to communicate your vision and goals, and collaboratively define the scope with a project team. It includes several components:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProblem statement\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProduct vision\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProduct goals\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUser types\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOut of scope items\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRisks\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe teams used product framing to articulate and agree upon the problems they were trying to solve, the user needs they intended to meet, and — importantly — what they were not going to try to do.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt this point, there wasn’t a plan to build anything; the teams first wanted to agree on the problems they wanted to solve before jumping to solutions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"technical-discovery\"\u003eTechnical discovery\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the teams worked on product framing, the Service Delivery team conducted technical discovery, attempting to determine technical alternatives to mitigate or eliminate program challenges.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne technical aspect of immediate concern was the websites’ hosting. The vendor hosted both websites, making it difficult to move to an alternative technical stack or to even have full visibility into the cause of performance, accessibility, and user experience challenges.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo solve this problem, the Service Delivery team proposed moving both websites’ hosting to \u003ca href=\"https://cloud.gov/\"\u003eCloud.gov\u003c/a\u003e, a federal cloud-hosting service built for government work. This would offer more flexibility with technical options, vendor choices, and overall maintenance.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the same time, the Service Delivery engineering team explored options for an approach for the training website without a login. This would eliminate the need for onerous password resets, while still allowing the program to track and authenticate user training completion and certification.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"content-auditing\"\u003eContent auditing\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn what would prove to be a crucial step later, the team initiated a \u003ca href=\"https://methods.18f.gov/decide/content-audit/\"\u003econtent audit\u003c/a\u003e — a thorough listing and analysis of all the content on an existing website.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the GSA SmartPay program website, this meant reviewing 560 pieces of content, including webpages, videos, documents, charts, and other content.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe audit revealed several opportunities to consolidate content; remove redundant, outdated, and trivial (ROT) content; and improve \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/topics/accessibility/\"\u003eaccessibility\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/topics/search-engine-optimization/\"\u003esearch engine optimization\u003c/a\u003e (SEO), and consistency.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"a-new-opportunity-emerges\"\u003eA new opportunity emerges\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the two teams working toward a path for the training and program websites, a new opportunity emerged. Because GSA SmartPay is widely used for federal procurement, card and account holders must comply with federal laws and regulations that govern purchasing goods and services for government use. This includes the fiscal year 2019 \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr5515/BILLS-115hr5515enr.pdf\"\u003eNational Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.acquisition.gov/Section-889-Policies\"\u003eSection 889\u003c/a\u003e, which prohibits the purchase of certain telecommunications equipment and services from vendors who sell products containing spyware.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile it was possible to search for the Section 889 status of a given vendor, the tools were difficult for users to find and use, or required back-and-forth email requests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe GSA SmartPay team learned of a tool built by \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/\"\u003eNASA\u003c/a\u003e that could streamline the search process for Section 889 status, thanks to a query of the \u003ca href=\"https://sam.gov/content/home\"\u003eSAM.gov\u003c/a\u003e application programming interface (API). NASA offered their codebase for GSA to build on – which was production ready and well built – and we were able to quickly deploy the application. The GSA SmartPay team changed the front-end to align the user experience with GSA standards and made minor modifications to optimize the code to run on GSA hosting platforms.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThrough cross-agency collaboration, the GSA SmartPay team launched the \u003ca href=\"https://889.smartpay.gsa.gov/\"\u003e889 Representations Search tool\u003c/a\u003e in April 2023, reducing search time for 889 status by an estimated 95%, equivalent to 75,000 hours per year saved in burden reduction.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"agile-iterative-development\"\u003eAgile, iterative development\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the launch of the 889 search tool, the two teams were ready to dig into the training and program websites.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe teams set up public repositories for the \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/GSA/smartpay-training\"\u003etraining codebase\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/GSA/smartpay-website\"\u003eprogram codebase\u003c/a\u003e (both open source), and managed agile development in two-week sprints, starting with the training website. Initially led by the Service Delivery team, product management tasks — including leading agile ceremonies — gradually transitioned to the GSA SmartPay product owners.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEventually, one of the GSA SmartPay product owners became so comfortable and skilled at prioritizing the work and managing agile sprints, \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/event/2023/10/12/backlogs-and-why-every-website-needs-one/\"\u003ethey presented at a webinar on backlog management hosted by Digital.gov\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMeanwhile, based on the content audit, the GSA SmartPay program was working to iteratively consolidate, remove, and rewrite content for the program website. Ultimately, the program would reduce the volume of program website content by 75%, leading to a reassessment of the website’s information architecture, with the program helping to lead \u003ca href=\"https://methods.18f.gov/validate/card-sorting/\"\u003ecard sorting\u003c/a\u003e and tree testing sessions with users.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo facilitate ongoing usability testing, the Service Delivery team developed multiple design and coded prototypes, continuously testing assumptions and approaches. \u003ca href=\"https://cloud.gov/pages/\"\u003eCloud.gov Pages\u003c/a\u003e allowed the teams to quickly and easily launch coded, interactive prototypes for usability testing at multiple stages. The teams also ran continuous automated accessibility testing, along with manual accessibility testing by the team and with a user of assistive technology.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"acquisition\"\u003eAcquisition\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the three websites launched or under development, the Service Delivery team simultaneously worked with the GSA SmartPay program on an \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/GSA/SmartPay-RFQ/blob/main/RFQ.md\"\u003eagile procurement\u003c/a\u003e based on the \u003ca href=\"https://derisking-guide.18f.gov/\"\u003e18F De-risking Guide\u003c/a\u003e to support longer term development and maintenance.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe contract used a Statement of Objectives to describe work to be done, but not prescribe how to achieve program goals, which is suitable for agile development. It includes a strong \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/GSA/SmartPay-RFQ/blob/main/RFQ.md#25-list-of-deliverables-with-quality-assurance-surveillance-plan-qasp\"\u003eQuality Assurance Surveillance Plan\u003c/a\u003e (QASP) that GSA engineers will use in post-award management to ensure code quality.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThrough the use of these methods, the Center for Charge Card Management awarded a contract to a small business based on evaluation criteria that included \u003ca href=\"https://derisking-guide.18f.gov/federal-field-guide/deciding-what-to-buy/#evaluate-contractor-proposals-based-on-industry-best-practices\"\u003epast project code and user research plan reviews\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"conclusion\"\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the end, the GSA SmartPay team launched three websites that embody the spirit of and deliver on the 21st Century IDEA. The sites are accessible to all users, leverage the U.S. Web Design System, and were built with and for users.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMany thanks to everyone involved\u003c/strong\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNASA\u003c/strong\u003e – \u003cem\u003eTracy Hall, Benjamin Jensen, Godfrey Sauti, and Emilie Siochi\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGSA\u003c/strong\u003e – \u003cem\u003eAndrew Lee, Rebekah Perillo, Erin VanDagna, Tri Thai, David Shea, Rosalind Cherry, Bo Berlas, Arpan Patel, Jessica Marine, Mark Meyer, Wei Wang, Jeff Fredrickson, Ryan Johnson, Kristen Lohman, Jenn Noinaj, Ashley Owens, and Mel Choyce\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRead \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/2023/11/29/part-2-delivering-on-21st-century-idea-a-case-study-from-the-gsa-smartpay-team/\"\u003epart 2\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/2023/11/29/part-3-delivering-on-21st-century-idea-a-case-study-from-the-gsa-smartpay-team/\"\u003epart 3\u003c/a\u003e for more information about the GSA SmartPay project.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}